Garden trends worth watching for in 2016

Gardening is a form of self-expression. It moves through trends like any creative paradigm, offering up a simultaneous reflection of what’s happening in society and what’s happening inside the artist. Like painting or music, gardening moves from trend to trend while its lifeblood, the 'why' of gardening that makes us crave getting our fingers into soft soil after a long winter, is universal. Most of my articles celebrate the 'why' of gardening. This one is about the 'how' and, specifically, the 'hows' to watch out for in 2016.

Gardening is a form of self-expression. It moves through trends like any creative paradigm, offering up a simultaneous reflection of what’s happening in society and what’s happening inside the artist.

Like painting or music, gardening moves from trend to trend while its lifeblood, the ‘why’ of gardening that makes us crave getting our fingers into soft soil after a long winter, is universal. Most of my articles celebrate the ‘why’ of gardening. This one is about the ‘how’ and, specifically, the ‘hows’ to watch out for in 2016.

The buzzing garden

We all know that our bees are in trouble; even those who continue to argue about the issue’s root cause accept that basic fact. In a world without bees, your grocery store would be sans apples, onions, cucumbers, broccoli, carrots, mangos, lemons, kale, cauliflower, leeks, zucchini, cantaloupe, avocados and more. Simply put, bees make food possible.

Pollinator-friendly gardens have already moved from niche to mainstream. Now they are becoming the norm. Concerned gardeners are using fewer chemicals and allowing predators to do the work that comes naturally: eating pesky critters.

Native plants, which attract more bees and reduce watering and fertilizing time/resource use, are back in vogue. Sustainability — which has long been a run a distant second to many gardeners’ chief priority, aesthetics — is becoming celebrated for how beautiful it can be.

Expect to hear terms like permaculture, xeriscaping and bug hotels more this year. They all mean essentially the same thing: We’re starting to take the idea of ecosystems seriously and recognizing that the most gorgeous garden is the one welcoming life.

Money-saving gardening

We all remember the $7.99 cauliflower of January 2016. While recent media attention has kept exorbitant pricing like that at bay, fresh vegetable prices have still increased 18 per cent during the past year.

At Salisbury, I’ve never seen people snatch up seeds like they are this year. Customers are also snatching up seeding soil, trays, and even grow lights faster than we can stock the shelves. People are nervous. Massive job losses across Alberta, coupled with a devalued loonie, is making a record number of people roll up their sleeves and rediscover the bounty of the soil outside their door.

The sad thing about today’s food economy is that I can fill my gut at McDonald’s for a few bucks, but the fresh produce aisle has become territory for those with money to spare. But while a pepper might cost $2 to buy, a $2 package of seeds will yield dozens. A clamshell of lettuce may be $4 or more, but a few seeds scattered onto moist earth will yield salad after salad.

The self-imposed stigma of “I don’t know how to grow that” is being rinsed away by the flood of educational, inspirational materials available online. Learning how to grow food has never been easier, and we haven’t seen this sense of urgency toward growing it in a long time.

Gardening 2.0

Our phones have become extensions of our hands. A recent survey by Forbes found that 40 per cent of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) would rather lose their car than their phone. I’m not even kidding. Wireless tech impacts every aspect of our lives.

Every garden trend report for the last few years has a garden tech headline. There’s been the basic ‘Gardening 101′ phone app for a while. Now there are supersonic pens that imitate bees’ wings, infrared cameras that promise a better picture of plant health, and plant nanny apps that monitor your houseplants’ moisture and pH levels.

In this garden writer’s humble opinion, it’s all getting a bit silly. The gardening tech talk reminds me of when trend watchers promised the death of printed books. Printed books survived the existentialist challenge of e-readers because people value experiences.

Gardening is about moist earth in your hands and tomato juice dripping down your chin. It’s visceral and fulfills a deep need for connection with earth that few other things can. Technology will play a valuable educational role in the garden but will never be the star. That’s my hope, anyway.

Rob Sproule is the co-owner of Salisbury Greenhouse in Sherwood Park. Reach him by email at rob@salisburygreenhouse.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SalisburyGarden.

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